Volume 8: A Trip to the Sick Village Chapter 391 Friendly Force Identification Module
"Don't hold out too much hope. The Friendly Identification Module is not a 'black box' and is not protected by a hard explosion-proof shell. In addition, in order to prevent the friendly identification code from being leaked, such things are often equipped with self-destruct devices... Those armed landing craft were destroyed in that state. The chance of finding a complete Friendly Identification Module is lower than the chance of drawing an SSR." Layton said as he conducted the final inspection of the space shuttle before takeoff.
"What's the chance of drawing an SSR? What does SSR mean? How high is the chance?" Marshall asked with interest, his hands on the back of the passenger seat.
As an experimental subject living in a closed base for a long time, people like Marshall have very limited entertainment options on weekdays. Apart from playing ball and fighting, the only things left are small gadgets such as homemade playing cards or Gobang... There are a few electronic game consoles in the experimental base, but they are all placed in the lounge reserved for researchers. As an experimental subject, they have no access to them at all.
Marshall had never even played Tetris, so he naturally didn't understand any of this proprietary name from a card-drawing game.
"I learned this sentence from Ke Lan. I don't play mobile games much, so I don't really understand it. Why don't you ask him... Damn, how long has it been since this space shuttle was maintained? There are a lot of problems, big and small. It may take another half an hour before it can take off." Layton said without turning his head. He pulled out a keyboard from under the operating table and typed quickly with one hand. Several data cables protruded from the inside of the other robotic arm and were plugged into various interfaces on the side.
"SSR is a term used to describe rarity in card drawing games. As for the chance of winning an SSR in a single draw..." Ke Lan thought for a moment and came up with an analogy. "It's like you bought a bottle of Snow Beer from the 'Open the Cap and Get a Prize' series, pried open the bottle cap and found out you won 'Another Bottle', then went to exchange it for another bottle and won again. The chance of winning three bottles in a row for free is almost the same as the chance of winning an SSR in a single draw." Ke Lan said.
"I remember the chance of getting another bottle was 20%. If I got it three times in a row..." Marshall counted on his fingers, "Only 8/1000? So low?"
"Yes, it is that low." Layton nodded, "That's why I feel that this operation is no different from committing suicide."
"Don't be so pessimistic. The automatic defense weapons on the Greece are just four 15mm rapid-fire electromagnetic cannons, and only two of them can attack us at the same time. I believe in your driving skills." Ke Lan sat in the co-pilot seat and patted Layton on the shoulder.
"That's all?" Layton bulged his eyes exaggeratedly and glared at Ke Lan. "Ke Lan, do you have any idea of the power of that thing? With the thickness of the armor of our space shuttle, it would be penetrated by a single shot... Only the partition of the power cabin can block the shells fired by this thing, but if the power cabin is hit, we can just wait to die."
"Don't worry, I'm still here." Ke Lan raised his hand to take off the observation eyepiece that was like an eye mask hanging on his head and put it on his head. "Leave the timing of the evasive action to me."
This observation eyepiece is connected to six visible light cameras on the outside of the space shuttle. Although the maximum observation distance is only 8,000 meters, it is more than twice the triggering threshold of the "Greek" automatic defense system (3,000 meters).
"Are you sure it's okay?" Layton asked with some concern. "At this distance, you probably only have a dozen milliseconds to react... Even if you can seize that opportunity, the space shuttle may not be able to complete those evasive actions in time."
"Anyway, as long as we don't get shot down directly, it won't matter if we get hit by a few shells, right?" Ke Lan held the joystick in front of him. "Layton, mark for me which parts of this space shuttle must not be damaged, and which parts don't matter if they get hit."
"...This thing isn't an armored warship developed for close-range combat. If it gets hit by a bullet anywhere, it's likely to disintegrate!" Leighton shouted angrily.
At this moment, Ze Luo suddenly sat on Ke Lan's lap, stretched out her hand, and pressed on the operating table in front of her. Leighton was about to ask her not to press randomly, but was shocked to find that all the problems he was dealing with just now had been solved. Even the airtight valve rubber ring that needed to be replaced manually due to aging of the material had been refreshed in the maintenance status column to "good condition, no need to replace", which made Leighton's jaw almost hit the ground.
"You...how did you do it?" He glanced at the screen showing the maintenance status of the space shuttle with some disbelief and asked in a trembling voice.
All the problems that would have taken at least thirty minutes to solve were now completely solved, and the entire space shuttle was in as good a condition as if it had just left the factory.
Ze Luo looked at Layton but did not answer - although she repaired the space shuttle in an instant, she did not understand the principle behind it at all.
To be precise, she just restored the problematic parts of the space shuttle to their original state.
"This is impossible!"
Layton stood up directly from the driver's seat, stumbled to a corner of the cabin, and pried up a metal cover with a mechanical arm - he was shocked to find that several broken circuits that needed repair had been reconnected, and there were not even obvious marks left at the connection points. At first glance, it looked like a brand new circuit board had been replaced.
As for the aged airtight valve rubber ring, although there were still some cracked lines on it, they were just lines. Layton poked it with his finger and knew that the material inside the rubber ring had been completely replaced, and its performance even surpassed that of a new replacement part.
He removed the rubber ring and used a knife to scrape off a layer of rubber on the surface. What was revealed underneath was a material similar to biological cartilage. However, compared to cartilage, the physical properties of this thing were closer to the original material of the rubber ring. It was simply a perfect substitute for rubber.
“Ke Lan! Ke Lan! This little girl is incredible!” Layton ran back to the cockpit as if he had discovered a new continent, pointing at Ze Luo with excitement, “She she she she…she…you’ve found a treasure!”
"Okay, don't make a fuss." Ke Lan took off the observation goggles and glanced at him very "calmly". "Remember to keep this matter secret."
"Yeah, I know, I know!" Leighton nodded hurriedly. He certainly understood what this ability meant. If it were leaked, the sensation it would cause would be no less than Ke Lan's secrets.
"Besides, in fact, our biggest reliance in this operation is her." Ke Lan pointed at Ze Luo who was sitting on his lap, "Ivan, give me the gun."
"What are you going to do?" Ivan asked with some confusion, but still took out a large-caliber hunting pistol and threw it to Ke Lan.
Ke Lan took the gun, put it directly to his temple, and turned on the safety.
"Fuck, you are--" As soon as Layton exclaimed, Ke Lan had already pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
A loud bang echoed in the cockpit, but the scene of brain bursting and blood splattering that Layton and Ivan had expected did not appear - although the muzzle of the gun was against Ke Lan's temple, there seemed to be an invisible barrier in between, and neither smoke nor fire could penetrate this barrier. At such a close distance, there was not even a trace of burns on Ke Lan's skin.
Ke Lan put down the gun and knocked the barrel against the armrest of the seat a few times. A severely deformed bullet fell out of the muzzle.
He picked up the bullet and held it in front of everyone.
"This, is this her ability?" Leighton looked at Ze Luo with a little more surprise in his eyes.
"Hmm... I can do this." Marshall muttered. His eyes stayed on Ze Luo for a few seconds, but a hint of sadness appeared in his eyes. "I didn't expect that the 'perfect individual' would have another one besides me... a pretty girl. What a pity."
Ke Lan knew that his words of pity were due to his misunderstanding of Ze Luo's identity, thinking that she had only a limited lifespan like herself. However, in this case, Ke Lan couldn't say it was wrong, so she could only nod and say, "Well, with two perfect individuals with materialized thoughts, they can provide this space shuttle with an unbreakable 'thought shield', so we don't need to worry about the automatic defense system of the 'Greece' at all."
"This thing is even more useful than the energy shield. It would be great if it could be mass-produced--" Layton said.
"Stop dreaming and start the space shuttle quickly. If we wait until that thing completely controls the 'Greece', we will have to face more than just two 15mm caliber electromagnetic cannons." Ke Lan stretched out his hand and turned on each instrument on the operating table one by one. Then he pushed the control lever next to the co-pilot seat hard, and the hangar in front slowly rose up.
"Knowing that there are two big guys on the plane, I finally feel a little more at ease." Layton sighed and started the engine. The four tail thrusters simultaneously sprayed out dark blue flames, and the entire space shuttle instantly slid into the deep and dark space.
Although Ze Luo and Marshall were there, Plan A was not abandoned in order to minimize risks. After leaving the hangar of the space station, the space shuttle began to fly towards the wreckage of the armed landing craft not far away.
…
"Shit...it really is an SSR?" Layton smacked his lips and carefully used the robotic arm working outside the cabin to push aside a severely deformed steel shell covered with charred burn marks. A palm-sized dark blue cassette appeared in everyone's field of vision.
This cassette is the "Friendly Force Identification Module" of the armed landing craft, which was supposed to be inserted into the operating table of the landing craft. But now, the entire operating table has been blown into pieces, and only the slot where the cassette was inserted was completely preserved and was not affected by the explosion.
"This is incredible luck. This thing isn't damaged at all." Layton said. Although the friendly force identification module has not been obtained yet, the sensors inside it are still working. The serial number, ownership and identification code of this armed landing craft are all displayed on the screen of the space shuttle. As long as the security program of this cassette is cracked, it is inserted into the operating console of the space shuttle, and then the corresponding model is modified, this identification code will belong to the space shuttle.
"Be careful, don't mess it up." Ke Lan said to Layton, staring at the images sent back by the external camera.
"I know, I know." Layton muttered to himself, and he also stretched his neck and stared at the screen - the space shuttle's extravehicular operation robotic arm had been connected to his cyborg prosthesis. He manipulated the more than 30-meter-long robotic arm as if he was driving his own limbs.
The "fingers" at the front end of the robotic arm moved, gently pinching the remains of the operating table with the identification module inserted - both the operating table and the identification module were made of polymer rather than metal. If Layton used a little more strength in his hands, they would be in danger of being crushed.
"Relax, relax... take it slow..." Layton whispered to himself, slowly retracting the extended robotic arm. In addition to the two fingers holding the wreckage, he had to use several other fingers to build a "protective shield" to prevent the floating broken parts from hitting the identification module.
The entire recycling process actually took less than ten minutes, but in Layton's eyes, it felt like a hundred years.
Only after he got the identification module in his hand did he let out a long breath.
"I didn't even dare to breathe just now. I was suffocating to death."
"Isn't this just a good way to help you train your lung capacity?" The first step of Plan A was successfully completed. Ke Lan finally felt relieved and started to joke with Layton.
"You're just kidding... I have artificial lungs. If I want to increase my lung capacity, I can only spend more money to buy a higher-end product - but then again, as the boss of the hunting group, you shouldn't show your appreciation?" Layton stretched out his mechanical hand, gently rubbed his index finger and thumb a few times, and a harsh metal friction sound was heard immediately.
"Okay, I'll replace your lung with a top-notch artificial lung after we get back. It's the latest customized version released by Maya Biology. Is that okay?"
"Hey, thanks, boss." Layton said, and a metal probe popped out from between his fingers and inserted into the gap on the side of the identification module.
Compared with military vehicles, the identification module of civilian vehicles is much easier to crack. In less than five seconds, the red indicator light on the cassette turned green. Layton blew at the cassette interface and inserted it into the operating table.
